Sparkling Camden Yards, home of the not-so-sparkling Baltimore Orioles.

BALTIMORE — Say what you want about the Orioles — and there are plenty of negative things to say about this franchise — but they still call Camden Yards home, and there are few ballparks in American that can top this place.

That's about the only thing the Orioles can hang their hats on right now, though. They were struggling last month when they came down to D.C. and lost two of three, and they're struggling worse now. Dave Trembley was fired, Juan Samuel has taken over as interim manager and the search for a permanent replacement goes on. In the most astounding stat you'll ever find, Baltimore first basemen have yet to hit a single home run this season. Think about that. Just mind-boggling.

So, once again, the Nationals have an opportunity to seize the moment and take down an inferior opponent. They won't have Stephen Strasburg in this series, but they will have J.D. Martin (who has pitched well despite his 0-3 record), Livan Hernandez (who was fantastic his last time out) and Luis Atilano (also coming off a strong start).

Now, the question on everyone's mind: Who is DH'ing tonight? The answer; Josh Willingham. Willie Harris is in left field. (Don't blame me, I'm just the messenger.) However, Michael Morse is starting in right field. Roger Bernandina is on the bench.

Finally! After all that time being stuck on the bench! You've got to play your best 9 and for once we get to see Willie Harris get the spot he so badly deserves! Also – why the he!! did we ever trade Hanrahan? Bring back Milledge!

Hanrahan was a disaster for the Nats last year. He's doing OK for the Pirates, but the Nats have Storen, Clippard and Capps. Also, Burnett (who they traded for) continues to pitch well.The Nats simply must take this series against the terrible O's. It's a shame Stras' schedule doesn't allow for a start this series. It would likely be a mismatch.

"In the most astounding stat you'll ever find, Baltimore first basemen have yet to hit a single home run this season."Oh man! Why do I have this sinking feeling that Garrett Atkins is going to go yard tonight??

Mark,What are you hearing about Harris's future here….is anyone with the Nats…beside Riggs backing him for more playing time? Orr would be a better hitter and can play anywhere…he has 8 HRs. Mench, Davis, Boomer W. even Maxwell would be a better bat than Harris.

I disagree with your assessment about the Baltimore 1B woes being the most astounding stat you will ever see.LF is generally considered the prime "offensive" spot in the field. It's the best place to hide.The Washington Nationals starting LF, on a day AFTER A DAY OFF, is batting … drumroll please … .151, with an on-base percentage of .240, and slugging percentage of .321. And he's not even batting in the lowest spot in the order.THOSE are the most astounding stats I, or anyone else, will ever see.

Maxwell? Seriously? I swear some of you guys have such a man-crush on that guy you'd marry him if you could. Is that why you all want him in DC again, now that it's legal? He's probably the only player that's been on the team this year to perform WORSE than Harris at the plate…

I said even Maxwell….which tells you how far Harris's skills have slipped. He is just a complete waste of roster space….ANYONE would be better. He is not going to turn his season around….he is done (except for making outs for Riggs it seems)!

Maybe we could re-sign Anderson Hernandez..just in case we need to put on another suicide squeeze…There are some real quality players that the Nats have had. Maybe in the spirit of the All-Star game and Willie Harris getting a start someon could put together a Nats' All-Star roster featuring Harris, Kearns, etc.

No No No!!! Harris for Bernadina – our worse hitter for our best. Good thing the rest of the team can pick up the slack…Harris must go, there must be someone in AAA or AA that can hit better than .150.

Was hoping for a "shake'em up" lineup against the O's— Substituting Michael for Roger doesn't exactly cut it. And, starting Willie in Left amounts to a thumb in the eye for all his complainants. Also, it completely negates the theory of the DH. JD has as good of a chance at the plate. Why, in the name of all that is holy, can't we put our best possible lineup on the field?

IF….Riggs is right then what does that mean for a good team….If Morgan is only good in July-August then what good is he to a team that is trying to win 90 games? Riggs is the perfect .456 win% manager. He is gone next year.

Wait…Nyjer is treading water in a glass? I'm sooo confused. :-)True, the placement of that hotel is quite unfortunate (of course, we have some ugly parking garages in our view at Nats Park, so I'll just hold on to my stone here). My fave view is at AT&T Park, but I am not unbiased…

Riggleman is aware that the interleague games still count on our record, right? They're not like exhibition games where you don't have to win. Where on earth does he get this idea that the DH position is for the scrubs to get a chance to play? Willie might be the greatest guy in the world, but the world doesn't owe him the right to play. He's still getting his money. I loved the guy last year, but he's slowed down a lot since then. Whether we're contenders or not, I buy my season ticket package with the idea that the goal is to field the strongest team on a daily basis, not to give some good guys a chance to break out of slumps. I grew up in Columbus watching hitters with the Clippers trying to break out of slumps so they could get back to the majors. I paid a lot less for those seats. A major league ticket should mean I get to see the guys who already know what they're doing. They handled Lannan well. I want to see him work it out and get back up here. I want the same for Willie. Just not for my $50 a night…

Regarding the Baltimore park: a faux park, top to bottom. No soul. Everything in it is fake – the warehouse, the fake retro lettering, and so on. Not my favorite park.Regarding the lineup — not the shakeup I was waiting for.From another thread: I kinda like this dribble. [sic]

Is it just me, or is it kind of crazy that the only position player on the 40-man that's in the minors is Justin Maxwell. The only other position player on the 40-man is Maldonado, but he's on the 15-day DL.Do we really need an extra 13 pitchers on our 40-man?Mark, I think this should be something to bring up to the Rizz when you get the opportunity.

Mark Zuckerman wrote: 9:04 p.m. — Handed a 6-0 lead, J.D. Martin can't even get through the fifth. He just got yanked with one out, two runs in and two more runners on.It looked like JD had nothing left in the tank. He had 2 decent innings and was helped by stellar defense and hurt in the 5th by lousy defense. Slaten did his job on the lefty. Batista did a good job even with that ugly swinging bunt by Adam Jones.

Anon @9:23, Nyjer 4 for 4 is like last year when the Nats picked up Nyjer as he did it with the glove, OBP, and running.I am hoping this is the start of Nyjer channeling his Tony Plush and his swagger. He can ignite this sleeping offense.

Well I guess sometimes you've just got to tip your cap to the other team and let's give some credit to Willie Harris who finally got a hit. You can't win them all and we'll just have to go out there and play a little harder tomorrow afternoon. But I'm proud of Willie and I consider that a victory of it's own kind. And what are you really going to do about it? Rizzo doesn't have the balls to fire me! Just wait until tomorrow when I bench Zimmerman and Dunn both because Kennedy and Gonzalez need some playing time. You can't stop me!

I'll say this for the Nats–I'm impressed with their ability to find fresh ways to lose.The crap-stastic play of the middle infield means that Jim doesn't have to worry about making excuses for playing Willie.

You've got to give credit to the Orioles. They're a professional team, they brought their "A" game, they had their "game face" on today, and they never quit on themselves.It's still a long season and it's just one game. Tomorrow's another day. One loss is the same as any other loss. Since our two teams have a strong financial interest in MASN, we're not going to get too upset about this one.In terms of "Rivalry," none of our players care about Washington. Few could find Washington and Baltimore on a US map–they couldn't care less about either city. They make lots and lots of stupid errors. It's a low IQ team. Low team for hitting in the clutch. Very, VERY low intensity team.Not one Nationals player is as mad as any of the people writing on all these Nats boards. They are the picture of indifference.We are all wasting our time and money.

Crushing loss. I only watched off and on on the TV. 6-0 at one point, 6-3, 6-7. Yowza.I really think Capps should have replaced Clippard before the lead was given up in the 8th. If Capps is the closer, test him.